24 MR.. NOR. TH MIXeS THINGS UP T HE telephone rang clearly while the N orths were still sitting at breakfast, and each instantly as- sumed an expression of mingled pre- occupation and expectation, meanwhile watching carefully for the first quiver which would indicate that the other was going to weaken and answer it. The bell rang again, and settled down to it doggedly. The Norths fidgeted slight- ly and then both spoke, almost at once. "You'd better answer the phone," Mrs. North said. "It will be for you." "-for you," Mr. North finished, and realized, with resignation, that he had fallen two beats behind and was hence, according to the simple rules of the game, elected. He got up and start- ed toward the telephone in the front room. Mrs. North began to speak be- hind him. "If it's Peggy," he heard Mrs. North say, "tell her-" Then he reached the telephone and, still trying to listen to Mrs. North, picked it up. He attempted to make some sound of greeting into the telephone while getting his instructions from Mrs. North. Confused by this effort, he yelled "What?" rather loudly in Mrs. North's direction without covering the mouthpiece. Mrs. North at once be- gan to repeat her remark and the tele- phone said, in a tone of some indigna- tion, "What?" Mr . North recognized Peggy's voice, but missed what Mrs. North said. He said "Hello!" loudly, so that Peggy would know he was there and Mrs. North would know he had begun to talk on the telephone. Then, for the benefit of Mrs. North, he yelled, "It's Peggy!" "Of course it's Peggy," Peggy said. "What makes you scream? " "Fran's talk- . " Ing to me, too, Mr . North said, and Mrs. North proved it by caH- in g-e vide n tl y from the kitchen -something he A couldn't catch. He yelled "What?" toward the kitchen and then, putting his hand firmly over the mouthpiece, said, "Just a minute, Peggy." "Listen," Peggy said, "are you still there? It is just making loud, funny noises." "About Thursday," Mrs. North called. This puzzled Mr. North consider- ably, but he made a stab at it. "Fran says about Thursday," he said, and then discovered that he was still muming the mouthpiece. " H ' F '\" P .. d ow s ran r eggy InquIre po- litely. Mr . North hurriedly removed his hand from the mouthpiece and shouted, for reasons which puzzled him even while he was doing it, "Swell!" Even over the telephone he imagined he could hear Peggy jump. "Oh," Mrs. North called. "Tell her we'll love it." M R. NORTH ran his free hand through his hair and tried to pull things together. They were, he felt, going very badly-he had not, as yet, even greeted Peggy. He made up for {t, quickly. " H P "I " h . . d ow are you, eggy r e InquIre , solicitously. "How's Ted?" But Peggy started speaking at the same moment. "I wanted to ask you about Thurs- day," she said. "Will you ask Fran-" Mrs. North, who now had the range perfectly, called again. Evidently she has come back from the kitchen, Mr. North thought. All he could clearly understand from her shout was the word "dressing." "Fran says 'dressing,'" he offered into the telephone, hoping that Peggy would interpret. "Oh, that's all right," Peggy said. "You'll do just as well if she's dress- ing." This did not help Mr. North par- ticularly, because he knew Mrs. North was not dressing. He had started to explain that there must be a misunder- standing, which he would try to clear up if there could be half a minute of silence, when Mrs. North called again. "What does she say?" Mrs. North inquired. Mr. North, panting slightly, put his hand over the mouthpiece once more, looked at it to make sure, and called, "What does she say abou t what? " At the same time Peggy spoke, and Mr. North, slightly deafened by his own voice, missed her words entirely. He took his hand off the mouthpiece and said into it, "What?" "About dressing for dinner Thurs- day?" Mrs. North called. Peggy said something which ended in "Wednes- day." "About dressing for dinner Thurs- day," Mr. North said into the telephone, and then, for no particular reason, and rather loudly, "What?" "Oh, for heaven's sake!" said Mrs. North. "What's got into you?" Then she said something else, which Mr. North missed completely because he was trying to hear what Peggy was saying. He understood neither, laid the tele- phone down, and said "Damn!" Mrs. North, who seemed to have gone fur- ther away suddenly, said "What?" He picked the telephone receiver up again and said, inquiringly, "Hello, Peggy?" "Hello," Peggy said. "\Vhat does Fran think about it?" Mr. North swayed gently to and fro. It was now utterly out of his hands. He did. not know what Fran thought about it, or what it was. "Will it be just as convenient for her?" Peggy inquired meanwhile. Mr . North heard her faintly, and w hat she said conveyed nothing w hat- ever e But along the hall he heard what seemed to him, then, the loveliest sound which had ever reached his ears. It was the tap of Mrs. North's heels, and she was coming toward him. "Fran's coming!" he screamed into the telephone. "Hold on a minute, F ' ." ran scornIng. Mrs. North appeared at the door and, with an eagerness which a little surprised them both, he held out the telephone to her. He put his hand over the mouthpiece. "It's Peggy," he said. "I think you'd better talk to her." Then, with Mrs. North's voice behind him saying, gently, "Hello, Peggy," Mr. North fled into another room. He lighted a cigarette with fin- gers which, he noted without surprise, were trembling. He sat down and in- haled deeply, relaxing as much as pos- sible. After a while Mrs. North came out and looked at him oddly. "It was Peggy about Thursday," she said. "I can't think what came over you. " "Oh," said Mr. North. And then, a little weakly, "About Thursday." "She wants to change it to W ednes- day," Mrs. North said. "That was all. I can't think why you made it so com- plicated." "Well-" Mr. North began. "Men seem to mix things up so" Mrs. North said, thoughtfully. Mr. North just looked at her. -RICHARD LOCKRIDGE